Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
Jo Larouche has lived her thirteen years in the California desert with her Aunt Lily, a faded Hollywood starlet, ever since she found in Lily’s laundry room with this note pinned to her blankets: This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a DANGEROUS baby. Up until this point, Jo has been, as Aunt Lily puts it, “as dangerous as a glass of milk.” But all that’s about to change. At Lily’s annual Christmas costume party, several strange things happen: a boy in a hedgehog shoots an elderly Russian colonel; a talking cockroach is found tied up in the basement, moaning about how this will play in the tabloid press; and a box falls from the sky, addressed to Jo from “The Order of Odd-Fish.” Soon, worsening circumstances lead Jo and Lily out of California forever—and into the mysterious, strange, fantastical world of Eldritch City. There, Jo learns the scandalous truth about who she is, and she and Lily join the Order of Odd-Fish, a colorful collection of knights who research useless information. Glamorous cockroach butlers, impossible quests, obsolete weapons and bizarre festivals fill their days, but Jo’s dream turns to nightmare when she learns that instead of a hero of Eldritch City, she may in fact become its destroyer. By the novel’s wrenching climax, Jo comes to understand who she truly is—and what it means to call a city home. Equal parts Monty Python and Roald Dahl, The Order of Odd-Fish is an entertaining and hilarious ride through a world that readers will not want to leave.
Is The Order of Odd-Fish appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
A whimsical middle grade fantasy with absurdist humor about a girl discovering her mysterious origins. Mild peril and adventure violence, but no mature content—perfect for readers who enjoy imaginative, offbeat worlds.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include abandonment.
Who'll love this
Kids will love the hilarious talking cockroaches, bizarre quests, impossible weapons, and the mystery of Jo's dangerous past in this wildly imaginative fantasy city.